More Bouncing Baby Bats!

Baturday News is a weekly blog written by Rachael, a 6th grade student and Save Lucy volunteer. Rachael’s interest in bats was sparked by the big browns bats that use the outside of her home for a winter roost. Her family has cheerfully hosted this wild colony for years.

Hello everyone! The people at Save Lucy were so happy when the pups got big enough to go 6 hours between feedings. They thought they could finally get some rest and then 2 more little babies showed up. The new pups only weigh 3 grams! They are so tiny! If anyone from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington is reading this, the people at Save Lucy thank you for bringing them the little pups. Of course they can’t wait until they can go more than 3 hours without eating. Soon these little babies should be healthy big brown bats.

A photograph of two very young big brown bat pups.
The pups weigh just over 3 grams.

Well, here they are!

Since the new pups were on the Save Lucy Facebook page already, some people have been asking questions about them. I thought they were really good questions that everyone might want to know the answers to.

One question was how fast do the babies grow? The pup in the picture below came in at 4.1 grams and 10 days later he weighed 9.2 grams. They grow really fast for a mammal. That’s why the moms have to eat so many bugs! Isn’t he cute?

A photograph of a big brown bat pup
Eensy started at 4.1 grams. Now 10 days later he's over 9 grams!

Someone else said, “Awwww are they cold? Poor naked babies!”

They do get very cold. In the wild they depend on moms and the colony for warmth until they grow fur. The rehabilitators at Save Lucy keep them in an incubator so they stay warm.

Another person wanted to know what happened to their mommy. I thought that was a really good question and I think the little pups do too. We’ll never know what happened to the mother. Maybe she got caught by a predator, or got hit by a car. The little babies can’t tell us.

2 Replies to “More Bouncing Baby Bats!”

TMC

How old are they? Are they eating mealworms yet? If so do they like them?
-TMC

Rachael

Hi TMC. The oldest pups are almost 4 weeks old and the youngest ones are about 2 weeks old. They love eating mealworms. The youngest ones have trouble crunching them up all the way though because they don’t have all their teeth yet. The oldest ones are even learning to eat mealworms from a dish. They all get milk replacer too.

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